Significant Borg Cold Stores investment in poultry industry

Borg Cold Stores Group of Companies (BCSG) is investing Lm500,000 in Buxom Poultry Ltd, which it acquired recently.

BCSG has taken up the immediate challenge of restructuring the company and the poultry processing lines to increase quality, efficiency and productivity.

Plans currently being implemented include upgrading plant and machinery; streamlining management and workflow procedures; compliance with EU and new HACCP/health and safety standards; and staff training.

"The new ownership represents both change and continuity," Edward Borg, BCSG managing director said. "With its 'coming home' to the BCSG, the company is under management that has a deep-rooted understanding of the poultry industry.

"The investment we are making is out of personal commitment to the local industry and belief in the quality of the Maltese product.

"Our clients - poultry processors and slaughterhouses - know that Buxom Poultry stands for quality. With this investment, we are demonstrating our commitment to these long-standing partners and our ultimate customer, the Maltese consumer."

BCSG is committed to ensure that future demand for poultry products in Malta is met with the high quality that has always characterised the brand locally.

Buxom, the largest poultry processor on the islands, can provide competitive prices due to its economies of scale and full use of its state-of-the-art plant and machinery.

A 24/7 technical team will support the new production line, and all processing line staff are undergoing training with overseas industry specialists. With Buxom Poultry now part of the BCSG, other efficiencies are being achieved with the streamlining of management reporting structures and procedures.

Implementation of the restructuring is being carried out within an exacting timeframe: new plant and machinery, for example, will be fully on stream within three months.

BCSG, a leader in cold storage, ice production, frozen food import and distribution, and the hatchery sector, is making the investment at a particular pressured time for the local farming sector, and the poultry industry in particular.

Compliance with EU Directives and the removal of levies in anticipation of Malta's EU membership have placed demands on the sector to upgrade facilities within a short timeframe. "At BCSG, we believe Malta's poultry industry has a strong future within an EU market," Mr Borg continued. "Maltese farmers are capable of producing the same quality product at possibly the same price as their European counterparts.

"Recent preliminary discussions with top officials at the Ministry of Agriculture indicate the possibility of some sort of financial help from the Government to the poultry sector in the very near future. This would certainly help bring us in line with the other local agriculture sectors, such as the pork processing industry, vintners, horticulture, etc., for which assistance has been forthcoming."

Buxom Poultry provides 10,000 birds daily for onward processing and packaging and supplies some of the leading local processing companies with their daily needs.